Moons & MUTTS
Hello, friend! Welcome back to my scribblings page where I write about things of interest to me and hopefully to you, too…
Today I woke up to a gorgeous sunrise featuring brilliant variations of red, orange, and yellow. It was truly stunning. I quickly poured myself a cold coffee with almond milk (I make my own from an organic almond concentrate. It’s easy and it’s much better for you!) and stood enjoying the moment. If you’re anything like me, the sky is important to you. I am constantly looking up. I look at the clouds, the sunshine, the stars, the Sun and Moon… I find it inspiring and relaxing all at once.
Recently I had the opportunity to experience a particularly unique event in the sky. In the early morning hours, about 2am, I awoke to my “Moon alarm,” threw on a jacket, zipped up my boots and headed out into the chilly air and looked up. I was looking at a “Beaver Moon”, which is a particular type of full moon named after the season beavers start to take shelter in their lodges for winter. The name also refers to the time of year when Native Americans and later Europeans would trap beavers for fur trade in North America. Fortunately, this particular Beaver Moon also turned into a partial lunar eclipse! During a lunar eclipse, the Moon, Sun, and Earth form a line, with Earth in the Middle, which causes our planet’s shadow to be cast upon the Moon. The illuminated crescent of moon had an orange and red glow, and when I looked through binoculars it was absolutely brilliant. It also happened to be one of the longest lasting partial lunar eclipses since 1440! It lasted nearly 6 hours! I’m really happy I got to see it and got a few grainy pictures to show for it.
After this morning’s sunrise, I refilled my coffee (yum!) and sat down at my desk. With the sound of bamboo windchimes softly tapping in the wind and sunshine glowing through the sheer curtains, I opened my pen drawer and was surprised to find a comic strip I had cut out last week from the Sunday paper. Yes, shockingly, I often do read a REAL paper. Lol. But let’s be honest, it’s mostly for the funnies/comic strips! My very favorite for many years now is MUTTS by Patrick McDonnell which features a cast of quirky people and loveable animals with an underling thread of being kind to animals and the Earth. This particular MUTTS strip was perfectly fitting to start my day after enjoying the gift of such a beautiful sunrise.
The comic simply reads, “If the only prayer you say in your life is thank you, that would suffice.” Which is a quote attributed to the 14th century theologian/mystic/philosopher Meister Eckhart. The strip is broken into four scenes featuring a man with a mustache, coat and scarf, and his companion, a cute white pup with black spots two black ears. They are strolling on a sidewalk with rolling green hills lined with trees. In the third section, there’s a faint yellow semi-circle, the sun!, barely about the horizon. The man and pup are still, back to the viewer, gazing at the sight. By the next and last section, it’s gone and they’re walking on again. What a lovely simple illustration with a big message. Slow down. Enjoy the moment. Remember to say thank you.
For me, the sky sparks creativity. Do you have anything like that? The mountains maybe? Trees? A certain coffee shop, high rise building, neon sign, lake…maybe a lipstick, a photograph, a song? I could go on! But I must get to work drawing, painting, cutting and pasting. I’m so excited to see what this book project eventually becomes!
Wishing you many many reasons to say ‘thank you’…
Until next time, happy creating!